There has been some suggestion of making aqueous dispersions of nanoparticles and vinyl polymers. In one approach, such dispersions are “cold blended”, i.e., they are made by mixing separately prepared aqueous dispersions of nanoparticles and aqueous dispersions of the vinyl and other polymers (e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,416,818 and 6,896,958). In another approach, the vinyl polymer is formed by emulsion polymerization in the presence of the nanoparticles (U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,765,049 and 6,759,463). Nonaqueous polymeric nanocomposites are also known (U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,306,502, 6,465,543 and 6,833,186).